The call for applications for the first IOSCO TechSprint, powered by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) AI Lab, was launched today. The online portal will be open from today, 2 March, to 30 April 2026.
In collaboration with the FCA AI Lab, IOSCO is organizing a TechSprint focused on Investor Education and empowering investors to navigate financial markets shaped by new technologies, especially AI.
The selected teams will work on either or both of two problems statements, both focused on the impact of technology for retail investors:
– How to help retail investors identify and avoid AI-enabled fraud and scams
– How technology can be used to educate and empower retail investors to use AI as a learning tool about finance, while understanding AI-related risks across diverse regulatory and cultural contexts.
Key elements for both problem statements are accessibility and potential for alignment across multiple regulatory and cultural contexts.
Teams will work virtually over the next few months, with regular check-ins and mentoring from IOSCO and its members, and showcase their project at an in-person Demo Day event on 8 October 2026 in Madrid, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of World Investor Week.
The ideal applicants will hail from all corners of the ecosystem to create diverse teams with complementary skills.
See the full problem statements and description of the TechSprint here.
A guide for participants is available here.
Any questions regarding the application process and the TechSprint may be sent to ioscotechsprint@iosco.org .
“New technologies such as AI offer extraordinary opportunities to expand financial inclusion, enhance investor understanding and improve the quality of services for investors. They also introduce new vulnerabilities: sophisticated and lightning-fast fraud, deep-fakes, and misinformation that can erode confidence and harm consumers. These challenges demand collective action and forward-looking solutions. The IOSCO TechSprint represents precisely this spirit of international collaboration, and demonstrates IOSCO’s commitment to guiding technological progress in a way that safeguards and educates investors and supports healthy, well-functioning global markets.”
– Jean-Paul Servais, IOSCO Board Chair
“As AI drives the rapid evolution of markets, strengthening the digital skills and vigilance of retail investors has become critical to their financial literacy and protection. This TechSprint is proving to be a powerful platform for mobilizing expertise and innovation, advancing the collective mission of IOSCO members to better protect and educate investors.”
– Camille Beaudoin, Chair of the Committee on Retail Investors
